A Goblin Commander.
Severin’s expression changed slightly.
Goblin Commanders weren’t ordinary monsters. They were many times stronger than regular goblins and often served as the leaders of entire groups. Their greatest advantage, however, wasn’t just their physical strength. They possessed enough intelligence to command their subordinates, coordinate attacks, and exploit an opponent’s weaknesses.
And judging by the situation, this one had been waiting for him.
Severin glanced behind the commander.
His eyebrows twitched.
Behind the large goblin stood roughly twenty more goblins, all staring at him with hungry eyes. Some carried wooden clubs, while others held crude spears and other improvised weapons.
They had surrounded the area without making enough noise for him to notice.
’You’ve got to be kidding me.’
Severin inwardly cursed his luck.
’I came here to hunt monsters, not get ambushed by an entire goblin family!’
He had been so focused on reaching the dungeon that he hadn’t paid enough attention to his surroundings. His senses had improved through training, but clearly, they still weren’t sharp enough to detect every threat before it was too late.
It was an unpleasant realization.
Still, Severin didn’t panic.
In fact, after the initial surprise wore off, the corners of his mouth began to rise.
’Twenty goblins and a Goblin Commander? Now this is more like it.’
His heart beat faster, not from fear alone, but from the excitement of facing a genuine challenge.
The commander suddenly threw back its head and roared.
"ROOOOOAR!"
The sound shook the surrounding trees.
The goblins immediately responded with a chorus of shrieks, their expressions becoming noticeably more aggressive. They gripped their weapons tightly and rushed toward Severin from several directions.
The commander’s roar wasn’t merely meant to intimidate its enemies. It also boosted the morale of the goblins under its command, making them more fearless and aggressive in battle.
Severin could see the difference immediately.
The goblins that had previously looked somewhat cautious were now charging as if they didn’t care whether they lived or died.
"Ah, wonderful. So the big fellow comes with a team-wide buff, too."
Severin adjusted his grip on his sword.
"Fine. Let’s get serious, then."
The first wave arrived almost instantly.
Three goblins rushed toward him from the front, while two others attempted to flank him from either side. A spear thrust toward his stomach, and a wooden club came swinging toward his shoulder.
Severin moved.
He twisted his body to avoid the spear, allowing its point to pass harmlessly beside him. At the same time, he raised his sword to deflect the club.
Clack!
The impact sent a brief vibration through his arm.
Before the attacking goblin could recover, Severin stepped forward and slashed across its exposed side.
Green blood splashed onto the ground.
He immediately turned and kicked another goblin in the stomach, creating enough distance to avoid being surrounded completely.
However, the remaining goblins didn’t give him time to breathe.
Another pair rushed toward him while a third tried to attack from behind.
’They’re actually coordinating?’
Severin’s eyes sharpened.
The Goblin Commander wasn’t simply standing back and letting its subordinates attack randomly. It was directing them, forcing Severin to deal with threats from multiple angles and preventing him from focusing entirely on any single opponent.
That was troublesome.
Very troublesome.
Severin quickly retreated toward a narrow space between two trees. By limiting the directions from which the goblins could approach, he reduced the advantage their numbers gave them.
A goblin lunged at him.
Severin parried its weapon, stepped inside its reach, and delivered a short slash.
Another fell.
A second goblin tried to take advantage of the opening, but Severin had already shifted his position. His sword swept across the creature’s weapon arm, forcing it to drop its club before he followed with another strike.
Two more goblins rushed him together.
Severin ducked beneath a wild swing and drove his shoulder into one of them, throwing it off balance. He then turned and cut down the other before it could complete its attack.
For a brief moment, the pressure eased.
Severin took a quick breath.
’All right. Their individual strength isn’t impressive, but the numbers are a problem. If I let them surround me, things will get ugly.’
He could already feel the difference between this battle and his earlier fights.
Those goblins had been little more than moving practice targets. These ones, supported by a commander, were forcing him to think about positioning, timing, and the movements of every opponent around him.
He couldn’t afford to focus on just the enemy directly in front of him.
One mistake could leave him exposed to several attacks at once.
And the Goblin Commander was still waiting for its opportunity.
As if sensing that Severin had begun adapting to the goblins’ attacks, the commander let out another roar.
The remaining goblins became even more aggressive.
"Seriously? Another one?"
Severin barely finished speaking before a wooden club struck his sword with enough force to push him backward.
He blocked a second attack, only to see a goblin sneaking around his side with a spear.
He twisted away, but the spearhead still grazed his arm.
A thin line of blood appeared on his skin.
Severin’s expression grew serious.
’So I can get hurt, after all.’
The injury wasn’t severe, but it was a useful reminder that this wasn’t a game where he could blindly charge into every fight and expect to come out unscathed.
The pain also made the situation feel more real.
And strangely enough, it made the excitement in his chest burn even brighter.
’Good. I needed a wake-up call.’
Severin pushed forward, using a series of simple cuts and carefully timed movements to force the nearest goblins back. He didn’t waste mana on unnecessary skills. His current mana reserves were limited, and he had no intention of exhausting them while a Goblin Commander was still waiting to fight him.
For now, his swordsmanship would have to do the job.
He changed his rhythm.
Instead of relying on the same defensive movements, he began alternating between short steps, sudden advances, and quick changes in direction. Whenever a goblin committed to an attack, he used its momentum against it.
His sword moved with increasing confidence.
A slash struck one goblin before it could raise its club. A quick turn allowed him to evade another’s attack, and a controlled thrust forced a third to retreat.
His movements weren’t perfect, but they were improving.
With every exchange, Severin learned something new.
He began recognizing the slight shift in a goblin’s shoulders before it swung its weapon. He learned how to tell when an enemy was committing too much weight to one foot, and he became better at predicting which direction an attack would come from.
Even his footwork was changing.
At first, he had reacted to the goblins’ movements. Now, he was beginning to anticipate them.
’Oh? That’s interesting.’
Severin parried a club and immediately counterattacked.
’I can actually feel myself getting better.’
It wasn’t some miraculous transformation that instantly made him invincible. Rather, his understanding of combat was developing with every passing second.
His talent, Infinite Adaptation & Evolution, was beginning to show its value.
The repeated attacks, the constant pressure, and the need to adjust to different opponents were pushing him to adapt. Each time a particular approach failed, he searched for a better one. Each time he encountered a new attack pattern, he gradually learned how to respond to it.
He wasn’t merely surviving the battle.
He was learning from it.
Unfortunately, the goblins weren’t going to politely wait for him to finish his lessons.
A sudden whistle cut through the air.
Severin’s eyes widened.
The Goblin Commander had finally joined the fight.